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NHS in a capitalist economy...

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Comments

  • wotsthat
    wotsthat Posts: 11,325 Forumite
    I can't see what the fuss is about 'caring' anyway. It means nothing and can't be measured.

    You don't have to be caring to realise that patients, for example, shouldn't have to be drinking out of vases or dying because there's not enough weekend cover.

    Caring's overrated. All I want is a decent outcome and I want the nurse, IT guy and cleaner all working to achieve it. If they're nice as well as efficient that would be lovely too.

    All businesses have to deal with customers that have an unrealistic expectation of service but that's about communication and explaining what the product can and can't do and what the limiters might be i.e. obesity, smoking & drinking.
  • BobQ
    BobQ Posts: 11,181 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    A lot of the back office services are in private hands.

    Not just back office services. Many minor treatment and injury services and diagnostic services are provided by firms like Virgin Care UK and Care UK.

    Often they operate behind the reassuring NHS logos but with small print indicating they are for profit operators of the service.
    Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.
  • BobQ
    BobQ Posts: 11,181 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    zagubov wrote: »
    I'd not support higher NI contributions from people with greater genetic risk. However I would consider thesde controversial ideas.
    Charges for appointments after one has been missed in any year.
    Higher NI for drinkers, smokers and people who won't attend weight control courses or accept other help with thier problems. Higher Ni for idiots that won't vaccinate their kids.
    Organ donors get to skip queues for treatment
    Separate queues at A and E for drunks and sober people. :beer:

    Charges for missed appointments - repeated offenders maybe but I do not think it is fair that someone who misses one appointment because the have a transport problem, their employer refuses them time off at the last minute, people who are unwell on the day etc should be treated like this. This is just penalising the poor.

    Higher NI? How far do you take this? Higher NI for people who drive fast cars? How about a temporary rise in NI for the pregnant and their partner? Or those who engage in dangerous sports? Or choose to work in hazardous industries like construction?

    "So Mr Smith, we should be able to fit you in for the shoulder operation in a few months, but of course we can do it earlier if you were to let us have one of your kidneys....."

    Be careful what you wish for.
    Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.
  • Spirit_2
    Spirit_2 Posts: 5,546 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Generali wrote: »
    Here you hit the problem on the head. The NHS is far too big ever to work.

    A large part of my job is to save money and hassle as well as improving the experience customers have with us. The only way to do that is to understand a process from end-to-end and understand what all of the outputs are used for. There is no way I could do that in the NHS.

    Any rationalizations in the NHS would almost certainly cause unintended costs elsewhere with entirely unpredictable results.

    Gen - healthcare is often not an end to end process. Long term conditions have no end (except the end) and people are complex some with only a single problem to fix others with more variables.

    You can have expected length of stay (and standardised moratility rates )for some procedures but an aging population in bad weather, alongside an increasingly !!!!less population that treats A&E as an on demand service can blow capacity planning, statistical models and queueing theory out of the window.
  • BobQ
    BobQ Posts: 11,181 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Generali wrote: »
    Here you hit the problem on the head. The NHS is far too big ever to work.

    .

    How do you define work? Does Walmart work? Does McDonalds work?
    Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.
  • TruckerT
    TruckerT Posts: 1,714 Forumite
    BobQ wrote: »
    How do you define work? Does Walmart work? Does McDonalds work?

    The NHS has simply got much bigger than its founders predicted.

    But it is still encumbered with the perception that it should have an unlimited ability to deal with the nation's health issues.

    TruckerT
    According to Clapton, I am a totally ignorant idiot.
  • BobQ
    BobQ Posts: 11,181 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 29 May 2013 at 6:44PM
    TruckerT wrote: »
    The NHS has simply got much bigger than its founders predicted


    This is true of many organisations. This does not mean that it cannot be managed.
    But it is still encumbered with the perception that it should have an unlimited ability to deal with the nation's health issues.

    TruckerT

    Where is the evidence for this? All that most people expect from the NHS is medical treatment substantially free at the point of access. No rational person thinks all healthcare is affordable whatever the cost. The issue that has always been to be determined is what is and is not affordable and how it is funded.

    The encumbrance to which you refer is merely the hatred of it by those who seek to politicise it and find ways to dismantle it for political reasons and/or to promote the interests of the health and insurance industry that funds the politicians that advocate it. One day they may succeed in this venture but I think those that support them will regret doing so.
    Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.
  • TruckerT
    TruckerT Posts: 1,714 Forumite
    BobQ wrote: »
    This is true of many organisations. This does not mean that it cannot be managed.

    Many organisations have the option to downsize, or go out of business

    All that most people expect from the NHS is medical treatment substantially free at the point of access

    Most people expect NHS treatment to be completely free

    No rational person thinks all healthcare is affordable whatever the cost

    The founders of the NHS did not predict the unaffordability of 21st century healthcare

    TruckerT...
    According to Clapton, I am a totally ignorant idiot.
  • BobQ
    BobQ Posts: 11,181 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    TruckerT wrote: »
    TruckerT...
    Quote: My comments in GREEN
    Originally Posted by BobQ viewpost.gif
    This is true of many organisations. This does not mean that it cannot be managed.

    Many organisations have the option to downsize, or go out of business

    The NHS can do this if the public want it to happen. Evidence is that they do not.

    All that most people expect from the NHS is medical treatment substantially free at the point of access

    Most people expect NHS treatment to be completely free

    I disagree. Most people expect the costs to be funded through taxation and NI rather than by individuals at the point of use of personal insurance.

    No rational person thinks all healthcare is affordable whatever the cost

    The founders of the NHS did not predict the unaffordability of 21st century healthcare

    The founder of McDonald's probably did not envisage they were creating a multi national franchise that would become the staple diet of millions of people.

    Healthcare is not unaffordable, we need to decide what we can afford.

    It is a political choice, but all the time we are paying less of our GDP through taxation than other nations it is not unaffordable even if we choose to destroy the NHS for political motives.
    Few people are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions which differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Most people are incapable of forming such opinions.
  • ILW
    ILW Posts: 18,333 Forumite
    The NHS is a great idea in theory. Just visiting any hospital and seeing the amount of waste and inefficiency is heartbreaking though.
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